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Herschel (Mimantean crater)

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For other craters in the Solar System named Herschel, see Herschel (crater).
Herschel
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An angled view of Herschel from the Cassini orbiter
Feature typeCentral peak impact basin
LocationLeading hemisphere, Mimas
Coordinates1°23′S 111°46′W / 1.38°S 111.76°W / -1.38; -111.76[1]
Diameter~139 km (86 mi)[1]
Depth10–12 km (6.2–7.5 mi)[2]
DiscovererVoyager 1
EponymWilliam Herschel

Herschel (/ˈhɜːrʃəl/) is the largest impact crater on the Saturnian moon Mimas. It is located on Mimas's leading hemisphere, centered on the equator at 112° longitude. It is named after the 18th-century astronomer William Herschel, who discovered Mimas in 1789.

Geology

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The crater Herschel on Mimas, as imaged by Cassini
The antipode of Herschel, with fractures (chasmata) possibly caused by Herschel's creation. Near the top, Ossa Chasma runs left of the double crater Gwynevere (upper left) and Launcelot.

Herschel is the second-largest crater relative to its parent body of any equilibrium planetary moon in the Solar System after Tethys's crater Odysseus.[3] It is so large that astronomers have expressed surprise that Mimas was not shattered by the impact that caused it. It measures 139 kilometres (86 miles)[1] across, almost one third the diameter of Mimas. Its walls are approximately 5 km (3 mi) high,[4] parts of its floor are 10–12 km (6–7 mi) deep, and its central peak rises 6–8 km (3+1⁄2–5 mi) above the crater floor.[2] If there were a crater of an equivalent scale on Earth it would be over 4,000 km (2,500 mi) in diameter – wider than Canada – with walls over 200 km (120 mi) high.

Origin

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The impact that formed Herschel must have nearly disrupted Mimas entirely. Large chasms (termed chasmata) that may be stress fractures due to shock waves from the impact traveling through it and focusing there can be seen on the opposite side of Mimas. The impact is also suspected of having something to do with the current "Pac-Man"–shaped temperature pattern on Mimas.[4] Herschel has an estimated age of around 4.1 billion years.[5]

Media reception

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The similarity between Mimas's appearance and the Death Star in Star Wars due to the large size of Herschel has often been noted, both in the press and in NASA/JPL press releases.[6][7] This is a coincidence, however, as the crater's similarities were not discovered until 1980 after Voyager 1 gained line of sight, three years after the film was made.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Herschel". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology Research Program.
  2. ^ a b Moore, Jeffrey M.; Schenk, Paul M.; Bruesch, Lindsey S.; Asphaug, Erik; McKinnon, William B. (October 2004). "Large impact features on middle-sized icy satellites" (PDF). Icarus. 171 (2): 421–443. Bibcode:2004Icar..171..421M. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.05.009.
  3. ^ Craters on small moons such as Stickney may be comparably large [1]; the moons of dwarf planets have not been imaged.
  4. ^ a b "Goddard Instrument Aboard Cassini Spacecraft Sees 'Pac-Man' on Saturn Moon". Goddard Space Flight Center web site. NASA. 29 March 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Impact Crater Size-Frequency Distribution (SFD) and Surface Ages on Mimas" (PDF). 2011.
  6. ^ Nicholas M. Short, Sr. "Remote Sensing Tutorial". Saturn and its Moons. p. 19-18. Archived from the original on 28 August 2015.
  7. ^ "PIA12570: Flying by the "Death Star" Moon". NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. 29 March 2010.
  8. ^ Young, Kelly (11 February 2005). "Saturn's moon is Death Star's twin". New Scientist.
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